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Robots Rules Os robôs ocuparão nosso lugar em todo trabalho doméstico, nos servirão de companhia e irão à guerra por nós. Mas a apreensão com a máquina que se rebela contra o homem também é cada vez maior.by William Sutton.

WHAT ARE ROBOTS AND WHY DO WE MAKE THEM? From Greek mythology through the industrial revolution to Hollywood films, we’ve dreamt of metal androids working for us. The word robot became famous through Karel Capek’s 1921 play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), in which a mad scientist creates an automaton factory. WHAT CAN TODAY'S ROBOTS DO? Non-humanoid robots already assemble our cars and vacuum our floors . But it is the life-like ones that capture our imagination . Kids are enthralled by a new generation of toys. RoboSapien not only walks, talks and fights, it even burps and farts . Wrex the Dawg and Pleo the Dino-bot make great pets for kids – and they never pee on the carpet

SOUNDS FUN . BUT CAN ROBOTS ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING USEFUL “Robots can’t do much now,” says technician Ed Williams, “but airplanes couldn’t do much in 1910.” Commander Data and C3PO are still science fiction, but current developments may change that. First, biomimicry: robots that imitate human abilities. Honda’s ASIMO can run, climb stairs and recognise faces. Anybot’s Monty can serve drinks, while Dexter can do what few robots dream of: jump The FIRA RoboWorld Cup should show how fast robots are improving; scientists hope a robot team will beat the human World Cup winners by 2050. Meanwhile, other robots improve our understanding of psychology. MIT’s Cynthia Breazeal makes robots with emotions, which respond to facial expressions and take turns in conversation Finally, industrial robots do work too dangerous for humans. Ariel walks underwater like a crab eventually, it will detect and clear mines Rosie is a crane to work on nuclear meltdowns US military robots already deliver supplies to front lines the next generation will be equipped with weapons ARMED ROBOTS? IS THAT SAFE? Don’t worry: the US Army, advised by British philosophers, hopes their robots will follow the Geneva Convention better than real soldiers. It’s a recurring fear that robots will become smart and take over Like the Terminator story, the robots in Capek’s R.U.R. were designed to free humans from drudgery but instead they stage a revolution Why? Because they are slaves SO DO WE HAVE ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES - A CAMPAIGN FOR ROBOT RIGHTS? It would be crazy to talk about a washing machine’s rights But if your household robots were so sophisticated they seemed human, would you give them holiday pay ? We want robots clever enough to work, but stupid enough not to care. The Trilobite hoover is designed only to vacuum: yet many housewives give it time off to “relax.” Is forcing a robot to work slavery? Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy takes this to comic extremes, with Marvin the superintelligent android depressed by making tea and opening doors. The questions posed by Frankenstein, R.U.R., I Robot and Bladerunner are urgent. Can robots have motions? Might we consider them people? Who has the right to own them? Or to destroy them? And can we trust them to do what we want?